#paperairplanesopenwindows

Eleanor put a hand on her chest, feigning outrage. “Wow, low blow, man. What does it say about you as a teacher if you don’t even have the confidence that you could teach me how to be a better person?”

“Well technically, this was all fake, and my teaching ultimately changed nothing about the situation at hand, so I wouldn’t say that this scenario really isn’t a legitimate assessment of my teaching abilities,” he pointed out.

“Then why did you assign so many papers?!”

“I had to make sure you’d do the reading!”

“Pretty sure writing 5 pages on the validity of existentialism as a moral philosophy was like 20% of the torture in this fake Good Place,” she quipped.

“Ha ha,” Chidi deadpanned. “Forgive me for trying to hold up my end of the deal and actually teach you.”

“I forgive you.” Eleanor grinned widely.

“How magnanimous of you,” he remarked. “Putting the point of your character growth aside-”

“So you admit that I have grown as a person?” Eleanor prompted.

“-yes, Eleanor, you have grown-”

“Couldn’t have done it without you, teach.” Eleanor punched his arm lightly.

“Back to the point!” The slight tinge of irritation in his voice couldn’t mask the pleased smile blooming across his face. “What am I supposed to do with this knowledge? I can’t unknow it, and I can’t just pretend that it’s not true, and oh, my stomach hurts again,” he groaned.

Eleanor rubbed small circles on his back. “Hey, we’ll get through this,” she said softly. “We’re a team, right?” She asked hesitantly.

“Yeah. At least I have you.”

She gave him a hopeful smile. “So we’ll just take it one day at a time.”

“I suppose we’ll have to. But I still can’t help but to wonder about the ethical ramifications of this. I mean, this situation is unprecedented- Kant never wrote about how to behave if you thought you’d made it to heaven, but it turns out that it was all an elaborate scheme to personalize your torture in hell, and oh, I bet finding out is part of the torture, my stomach hu-”

Eleanor cut off the rest of his thought by carefully pressing her lips to his. 

He relaxed into the kiss, his initial tenseness giving way to relief as he kissed her back and cupped the side of her face.

Her hands roamed without any urgency; up his back, down his arms, and back up again to settle at his shoulders, kissing him gently all the while. Finally, she broke the kiss and pulled away, locking her eyes on his.

“You okay?”

“Probably as good as I could be, given the circumstances.” Chidi visibly relaxed, dropping his shoulders. “Thanks.”

“Hey, what are fake soulmates slash pupils slash afterlife buddies for?” Eleanor chuckled.

Chidi hummed his assent, studying her intently.

“Whatcha thinking about there, superbrain? Do I need to pull you out of your head again before it overheats?” She joked halfheartedly.

“How often do you kiss people to shut them up?” Chidi asked curiously.

Eleanor screwed up her face, thinking. “Less often than you’d think. Usually if someone is rambling and I want them to stop I just bail. They keep on rambling, but I don’t have to hear it anymore.”

“So this is you making an effort.”  

“Don’t get too excited over it,” she replied dismissively. “I’m not, like, suddenly going to turn into a Care Bear or something.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I think we’ll all need you at your most cynical and conniving to get through this.” Chidi’s hand had snaked its way into Eleanor’s and he gave it a reassuring squeeze.